The King of Aspiration Prayers

Samantabhadra’s Aspiration to Excellent Conduct

Homage to MañjushrÓ, the youthful!

To those, in the worlds of the ten directions, however many there are,
All the lions among humans who appear during the three times—
To all of them without exception
I pay homage with respectful body, speech, and mind.

The force of my Aspiration Prayer for Excellent Conduct,

Brings all the victorious ones directly to mind;
Bowing down with bodies as numerous as atoms in the realms,
I prostrate to all the victorious ones.

In a single atom there are buddhas as numerous as atoms,

Each residing in the midst of their sons and daughters;
Like that, I imagine that the whole dharmadhÏtu
Is completely filled with victorious ones.

To those with oceans of inexhaustible praise-worthy qualities—

With sounds containing oceans of tones of melodic speech,
I express the qualities of all the victorious ones,
I praise all the sugatas.

With the finest flowers, the finest garlands,

Music, ointments, supreme parasols,
Supreme lamps, and the finest incense
I make offerings to the victorious ones.

With the finest cloths, supreme scents,

And fine powders equal to Mount Meru,
All displayed in supreme and magnificent ways,
I make offerings to those victorious ones.

With vast unsurpassable offerings

I venerate all the victorious ones.
Through the power of faith in excellent conduct
I prostrate and offer to the victorious ones.

Whatever negative actions I have performed

With body, speech, and also mind
Overpowered by desire, aggression, and stupidity
I confess each and every one of them.

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I rejoice in everyone's merit-
The victorious ones of the ten directions, the bodhisattvas,
The pratyekabuddhas, those in training,
Those beyond training, and all beings.

I request the protectors,

The lamps of the worlds of the ten directions,
Who, passing through the stages of awakening, attained buddhahood beyond attachment,
To turn the unsurpassable dharma wheel.

I supplicate with my palms joined together

Those who intend to demonstrate nirvana
To remain for kalpas as numerous as atoms in the realms
For the welfare and happiness of all beings.

I dedicate whatever slight virtue is accumulated through

Prostrating, offering, confessing,
Rejoicing, requesting, and supplicating
To enlightenment.

Let offerings be made to buddhas of the past,

And all who now dwell throughout the ten directions of the universe!
Let all who are yet to come swiftly fulfil their wishes
And attain the stages of enlightenment and buddhahood!

Let as many worlds as there are in all the ten directions

Transform into realms that are vast and utterly pure,
Filled with buddhas who have sat before the mighty bodhi tree,
Around them all their bodhisattva sons and daughters!

Let as many sentient being as there are in all the ten directions
Live always and forever in happiness and health!
Let all beings meet the dharma
That befits them best! And so may all they hope for be fulfilled!

As I practise the training for enlightenment,

May I recall all my previous births,
And in my successive lives, through death and through rebirth,
May I always renounce worldly life!

Training in the footsteps of all the victorious buddhas,

May I bring good actions to perfection,
And may my moral conduct be taintless and pure,
Never lapsing, and always free from fault!

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In the language of the gods, nagas, and yakßhas,
In the language of demons and of humans too,
In however many kinds of speech there may be -
I shall proclaim the dharma in the language of all!

Taming my mind, and striving in the paramitas,

1 will never forget the bodhicitta;
May all my harmful actions and the obscurations they cause
Be completely purified, every single one!

May I be freed from karma, harmful emotions and the work of negativity,
And act for all beings in the world,
Just like the lotus flower to which mud and water cannot cling,
Or sun and moon that course unhindered through the sky.

Throughout the reach and range of the entire universe

I shall pacify completely the suffering of all the lower realms,
I shall lead all beings to happiness,
And work for the ultimate benefit for each and every one!

I shall bring enlightened action to perfection,

Serve beings so as to suit their needs,
Teach them to accomplish good actions,
And continue this, throughout all the aeons to come!

May I always meet and be accompanied by

Those whose actions accord with mine;
And in body, speech and mind as well,
May our actions and aspirations always be one!

May I always meet spiritual friends

Who long to be of true help to me,
And who teach me the good actions;
Never will I disappoint them!

May I always behold the buddhas, here before my eyes,

And around them all their bodhisattva sons and daughters.
Without ever tiring, throughout all the aeons to come,
May the offerings I make them be endless and vast!

May I maintain the sacred teachings of the buddhas,

And cause enlightened action to appear;
May I train to perfection in good actions,
And practise these in every age to come!

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As I wander through all states of saÙsÏric existence,
May I gather inexhaustible merit and wisdom,
And so become an inexhaustible treasury of noble qualities—
Of skill and discernment, samÏdhi and liberation!

In a single atom may I see as many pure realms as atoms in the universe:
And in each realm, buddhas beyond all imagining,
Encircled by all their bodhisattva heirs.
Along with them, may I perform the actions of enlightenment!

And so, in each direction, everywhere,

Even on the tip of a hair, may I see an ocean of buddhas—
All to come in past, present and future—in an ocean of pure realms,
And throughout an ocean of aeons, may I enter into enlightened action in each and every one!

Each single word of a buddha’s speech, that voice with its ocean of qualities,
Bears all the purity of the speech of all the buddhas,
Sounds that harmonize with the minds of all living beings:
May I always be engaged with the speech of the buddhas!

With all the power of my mind, may I hear and realise

The inexhaustible melody of the teachings spoken by
All the buddhas of past, present and future,
As they turn the wheels of dharma!

Just as the wisdom of the buddhas penetrates all future aeons,

So may I too know them, instantly,
And in each fraction of an instant may I know
All that will ever be, in past, present and future!

In an instant, may I behold all those who are the lions of the human race—
The buddhas of past, present and future!
May I always be engaged in the buddhas' way of life and action,
Through the power of liberation, where all is realised as like an illusion!

On a single atom, may I actually bring about

The entire array of pure realms of past, of present and future;
And then enter into those pure buddha realms
In each atom, and in each and every direction.

When those who illuminate the world, still to come,

Gradually attain buddhahood, turn the wheel of dharma,
And demonstrate the final, profound peace of nirvÏÚa:
May I be always in their presence!

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Through the power of swift miracles,
The power of the vehicle, like a doorway,
The power of conduct that possesses all virtuous qualities,
The power of loving kindness, all-pervasive,

The power of merit that is totally virtuous,

The power of wisdom free from attachment, and
The powers of knowledge, skilful means and samÏdhi,
May I perfectly accomplish the power of enlightenment!

May I purify the power of karma;

Destroy the power of harmful emotions;
Render negativity utterly powerless;
And perfect the power of good actions!

I shall purify an ocean of realms;

Liberate oceans of sentient beings;
Understand oceans of dharma;
Realise oceans of wisdom;

Perfect oceans of actions;

Fulfil oceans of aspirations;
Serve oceans of buddhas!
And perform these, without ever growing weary, through oceans of aeons!

All the buddhas throughout the whole of time,

Attained enlightenment through good actions, and
Their prayers and aspirations for enlightened action:
May I fulfil them all completely!

The eldest of the sons of all the buddhas

Is called Samantabhadra: ‘All Good’:
So that I may act with a skill like his,
I dedicate fully all these merits!

To purify my body, my speech and my mind as well,

To purify my actions, and all realms,
May I be the equal of Samantabhadra
In his skill in good dedication!

In order to perform the full virtue of good actions,

I shall act according to MañjushrÓ's prayers of aspiration,
And without ever growing weary, in all the aeons to come,
I shall perfectly fulfil every one of his aims!

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Let my bodhisattva acts be beyond measure!
Let my enlightened qualities be measureless too!
Keeping to this immeasurable activity,
May I accomplish all the miraculous powers of enlightenment!

Sentient beings are as limitless

As the boundless expanse of space;
So shall my prayers of aspiration for them
Be as limitless as their karma and harmful emotions!

Whoever hears this king of dedication prayers,

And yearns for supreme enlightenment,
Who even once arouses faith,
Will gain true merit greater still

Than by offering the victorious buddhas

Infinite pure realms in every direction, all ornamented with jewels,
Or offering them all the highest joys of gods and humans
For as many aeons as there are atoms in those realms

Whoever truly makes this Aspiration to Good Actions,

Will be never again born in the lower realms;
They will be free from harmful companions, and
Soon behold the Buddha of Boundless Light.

They will acquire all kinds of benefits, and live in happiness:

Even in this present life all will go well,
And before long,
They will become just like Samantabhadra.

All negative acts—even the five of immediate retribution—

Whatever they have committed in the grip of ignorance,
Will soon be completely purified,
If they recite this Aspiration to Good Actions.

They will possess perfect wisdom, beauty and excellent signs,

Be born in a good family and with a radiant appearance.
Demons and heretics will never harm them,
And all three worlds will honour them with offerings.

They will quickly go beneath the bodhi tree,

And there, they will sit, to benefit all sentient beings, then
Awaken into enlightenment, turn the wheel of dharma,
And tame Mara with all his hordes.

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The full result of keeping, teaching, or reading
This Prayer of Aspiration to Good Actions
Is known to the buddhas alone:
Have no doubt: supreme enlightenment will be yours!

Just as the warrior MañjushrÓ attained omniscience,

And Samantabhadra too
All these merits now I dedicate
To train and follow in their footsteps.

As all the victorious buddhas of past, present and future

Praise dedication as supreme,
So now I dedicate all these roots of virtue
For all beings to perfect good actions.

When the time of death comes for me

May all my obscurations vanish;
Seeing AmitÏbha directly
May I go to his realm of SukhÏvatÓ.

Having gone there, may I actualise

All these aspiration prayers,
Fulfil them completely,
And benefit beings for as long as worlds exist

May I be born within a beautiful lotus

In that excellent and joyous realm of the victorious one;
And from the victorious one AmitÏbha directly
May I receive a prophecy.

Having received his prophecy there,

May I benefit all beings in the ten directions
Through the power of my mind
With many billions of emanations

Through whatever slight virtue I have accumulated

By making this Aspiration Prayer for Excellent Conduct,
May the virtue of the aspiration prayers for all beings
Be accomplished instantly.

By the infinite and genuine merit,

Attained through dedicating the Aspiration Prayer for Excellent Conduct,
May all beings drowning in the rivers of sufferings
Reach the place of AmitÏbha.

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 May this King of Aspiration Prayers
Bring about the supreme aim and benefit for all infinite beings;
Completing this scripture adorned by Samantabhadra,
May the lower realms be empty.

This completes “The King of Aspiration Prayers, The Aspiration for Excellent Conduct.”

Translated from Sanskrit by the Indian Khenpo Jinamitra, Surendrabodhi, translator Bande Yeshe
De and so forth, and chiefly edited by the Great Translator Vairotsana.

Translated into English under the guidance of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyatso by Elizabeth Callahan, August 1994.